Instructional Objectives
1. The student will reflect on their own perception of beauty.
2. The student will distinguish the amount of time, money and effort that is spent
changing the natural beauty of humans.
3. The student will understand the correlation between America’s perception of beauty
and the economy that relies on it.
4. The student will better understand beauty in other cultures around the world.
5. The student will gain an appreciation for their own beauty.
Learning Activities Sequence: Day 1
Pre-Assessment:
The students will do Journal Entry 7
Answer the following questions with your opinion:
What is perception?
What is beauty?
Why do we people find different things to be beautiful?
Is beauty universal? (Do all peoples find the same things beautiful?)
Is beauty fluid? (Does it change over time?)
Set Induction:
1. Students will view a one-minute clip from the video Mentawai Women in
Sumatra. The clip will show a Mentawai woman having her teeth cut down to
points by use of a machete; this is considered beautiful in their culture. (See
Appendix A.)
2. The students will watch a two-minute clip from the video Science of Beauty:
Venezuela’s Obsession. The clip will show ordinary Venezuelans in hair salons
as they share their perception of beauty for their culture. (See Appendix A.)
3. Students will see before & after images of Americans undergoing tooth veneer
implanting. (See Appendix A.)
Discussion Questions:
Do these procedures seem painful?
Are they expensive?
Why do people feel compelled to engage in these beautification rituals?
Lesson/Learning Activities:
1. The students will be introduced to the concepts of beauty and perception by definition
and examples; the Psychology textbook will be used.
2. Have the students think, pair, and share what they believe are the traits of beauty in
America. On the white board, create a list of these traits.
3. Have the students think, pair, and share as many products and services as they can
think of that Americans use to achieve beauty. On the white board, create a list of
these products and services and their estimated costs. Include the ways in which we
change our natural beauty (plucking, shaving, dying hair, etc.) Include jewelry,
clothes, shoes, etc. Examples are:
 Bottle of Shampoo
$ 8.00
 Tanning Salon
30.00/per month
 Gym Membership
50.00/per month
 Cosmetics
10.00 to 100.00/per month
 Razor
5.00
 Teeth Whitening
20.00/per month
 Cosmetic Surgery
10,000.00 for Breast Augmentation
 Pairs of Jeans We Own
5 pairs at $30.00 each
 Pairs of Shoes We Own
10 pairs at $55.00 each
 Gold Chain
100.00
4. Have the students think, pair, and share on the jobs these products and services create.
On the white board, make a list of these jobs. Encourage students to go beyond the
obvious answers of hairstylist, dentist or doctor. Jobs also include those who: make
the product, make the container that holds the product, make the machine that makes
the product, repair the machine that makes the product, deliver the product, work at
stores that sell the product, etc. The list is expansive, so students are encouraged to
keep digging.
Closure:
The students will discuss other cultures from around the world and compare them to
what they learned about America from the activity.
Learning Activities Sequence Day 2 and Day 3
Pre-Assessment:
The students will do Journal Entry 8
Given the following human characteristics: body size, hair color, body type, height, skin color,
clothing, jewelry, etc., tell me what you believe the ideal of beauty is for the following cultures:
Caribbean (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Haitian, etc.) Is there a distinction in Caribbean cultures?
Chinese
African
Brazilian
Japanese
South American Indian
European Spanish
Set-Induction:
The students will read a class handout of Body Rituals of the Nacirema. (See
Appendix A.)
This introduces a culture that is ‘foreign’ and may seem odd to the students. Once the
students realize it is about Americans, they are aware that their culture filter is quite
different from those of other peoples. This awareness leads to the lesson about other
cultures and their perception of beauty.
Lesson/Learning Activities
1. Students will research an assigned culture of the Caribbean and create a PowerPoint
presentation on their culture’s “traits of beauty”. (Those without access to technology
can use a poster board.)
2. The students are assigned a culture by choosing from the cultures listed below. It is
important to have some students do other cultures from around the world to compare
to Caribbean cultures.
a. Chinese
b. South American Indian
c. European Spanish
d. African
e. Caribbean
i. Cuban
ii. Puerto Rican
iii. Haitian
iv. Dominican
f. Japanese
3. The students will work on their specific culture in a group setting or individually.
The following handout will be passed out for student instructions and requirements.
Closure:
The students will discuss the following questions:
1. Before you read about the Nacirema, did you think your culture was better
than those of other peoples? Why or Why Not?
2. Why do you think Ricky Martin was chosen as the spokesperson for the
Puerto Rican Department of Tourism?
3. Why do you think Pedro Martinez was replaced by Sammy Sosa as the
spokesperson for the Dominican Republic’s Department of Tourism?
Learning Activities Sequence, Day 4 and Day 5
Set Induction:
The students will be shown photos of famous people from the Caribbean and “ordinary”
people from the Caribbean. They will be asked to compare and contrast the photos. Drawing
on what they have learned, the students will explain why the famous people look so different
from the ordinary people. See Attachment.
Lesson/Learning Activities:
1.
2.
Using an LCD projector and computer, the students will make their individual
culture presentations.
Additional class readings on the Western influence on the global perception of
beauty from Appendix B will be distributed.
Evaluation
As a take-home assessment, each student will write a 2-3 page essay using his or her
knowledge of perception as it relates to the social construct of beauty. The following
questions will be addressed:
What is perception and how does it apply to beauty?
How is beauty perceived in other cultures? (Give at least 5 examples, at least 3 from
Caribbean)
How does America perceive beauty?
How does Western culture influence the global perception of beauty? (Hollywood,
commercials, magazines, etc)
How does the American perception of beauty affect the American economy?
How does the perception of beauty in a Caribbean culture affect their economy?
Compare and contrast a Caribbean ideal of beauty with an American ideal of beauty.
Name several ways in which the ideals of Caribbean beauty are found in the ideals of
American beauty.
How does the perception of beauty affect self-esteem?
In what ways are you beautiful, internally as well as externally?
Conclusion:
Students will understand the behavioral conditioning that materialistic consumerism requires
and that America’s ideal of beauty is designed to sell products to employ 200 million
Americans. Students will better understand the distinct beauty of the Caribbean culture and
its affect on American ideals of beauty. Students will understand that there is no “truth’ to
beauty. They will understand that beauty is a social construct which is fluid and not
universal. Students will better appreciate their own beauty and understand the importance of
inner beauty and psychological well-being.